Thematic Observation
In these two poems, both of them are describing the culture of Hong Kong.
In “Mother Tongue”, the writer Tegan Smyth is half-breed of Hakka Chinese and Australia. She writes about languages, culture, and humanity, etc. This poem has illustrated that language plays an absolutely necessary and important role in awaring cultural identity as expected. Lots of expressions and characteristics of the two different places were frequently used to represent the difference between Hong Kong and Australia. From her words, it was spotted out that languages could bring out the function of bridging the gap between culture and identity between people.
However, she does not think that languages have a large influence towards identities. …show more content…
The writer used Aquilaria Sinensis in the poem, which was an endangered species of plant in the Thymelaeaceae family, to metaphor Hong Kong. Aquilaria Sinensis appears in thousand years ago, it has special incense smell and it's a medicinal plant which is also a source of fragrant wood, formed under a pathological condition, called agarwood.
The writer explained the origin of the name “Hong Kong” at the beginning of the poem. In the past, Hong Kong was transit port of “incense tree, with joss sticks, agarwood and it's scented”. The incense tree produces agarwood, which was a valuable fragrant wood used for incense and medicine. The trade boosted the trading economy of the entrepot, and “Incense Port” was named, with “truly fragrant truly harbor”.
Louise Ho is one of the leading English poets in Hong Kong, she often makes use of and fun with the language. Sometimes she uses Cantonese in her poem, one of her goals is the creation of a space where the English literary language expresses as well as is incorporated into the local ethos. For example in this poem, she thought that the transliteration of “Heung Gong” into the English sound of “Hong Kong” could not represent the true meaning of Hong Kong. The word “Hong Kong” could not show people the meaning of “fragrant harbour”, and it was rather a monosyllabic tonal Chinese
In these two poems, both of them are describing the culture of Hong Kong.
In “Mother Tongue”, the writer Tegan Smyth is half-breed of Hakka Chinese and Australia. She writes about languages, culture, and humanity, etc. This poem has illustrated that language plays an absolutely necessary and important role in awaring cultural identity as expected. Lots of expressions and characteristics of the two different places were frequently used to represent the difference between Hong Kong and Australia. From her words, it was spotted out that languages could bring out the function of bridging the gap between culture and identity between people.
However, she does not think that languages have a large influence towards identities. …show more content…
The writer used Aquilaria Sinensis in the poem, which was an endangered species of plant in the Thymelaeaceae family, to metaphor Hong Kong. Aquilaria Sinensis appears in thousand years ago, it has special incense smell and it's a medicinal plant which is also a source of fragrant wood, formed under a pathological condition, called agarwood.
The writer explained the origin of the name “Hong Kong” at the beginning of the poem. In the past, Hong Kong was transit port of “incense tree, with joss sticks, agarwood and it's scented”. The incense tree produces agarwood, which was a valuable fragrant wood used for incense and medicine. The trade boosted the trading economy of the entrepot, and “Incense Port” was named, with “truly fragrant truly harbor”.
Louise Ho is one of the leading English poets in Hong Kong, she often makes use of and fun with the language. Sometimes she uses Cantonese in her poem, one of her goals is the creation of a space where the English literary language expresses as well as is incorporated into the local ethos. For example in this poem, she thought that the transliteration of “Heung Gong” into the English sound of “Hong Kong” could not represent the true meaning of Hong Kong. The word “Hong Kong” could not show people the meaning of “fragrant harbour”, and it was rather a monosyllabic tonal Chinese